SC rejects Jaya's plea on HC hearings

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the plea of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who is racing against the November 13 deadline to get elected to the assembly, for an early hearing of her appeals pertaining to the TANSI land scam case by the Madras high court.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices S P Bharucha, Brijesh Kumar and Ashok Bhan dismissed her application seeking modification of the September seven order of the apex court transferring the appeals to a new judge in the high court to start hearing them afresh not before October 1.

"Raising the plea same plea for the second time is not on," the bench said, dismissing the application through which the chief minister had sought advancement of the hearing date from October one to September 25.

Her appeals against the conviction in the two TANSI cases and a case pertaining to Pleasant Stay Hotel is pending in the high court.

Special prosecutor K V Venkatapathy had moved the apex court alleging that in the prevailing circumstances, he feared that fair hearing would not take place and had requested transfer of the cases to another high court.